Getting To The Top 1% Of Amazon Engineers - Productivity Tips From A Life Engineered

Steve Huynh, from the popular channel A Life Engineered, talks about the 3 parts of his productivity system. After spending more than 17 years at Amazon and obtaining the coveted Principal Engineer title, Steve spends a lot of time thinking about peak productivity. 

Timestamps:
- 0:00 - Intro to Steve
- 0:40 - Why invest in a system for time management?
- 2:30 - Have a healthy relationship with notifications
- 6:02 - Optimize your schedule
- 9:00 - Optimize for impact (not comfort)
- 11:25 - How Steve organizes his time

Related questions:
- [When to check email to maximize productivity?
](https://www.jointaro.com/question/aBmMAXWqsQ8gYxyAJcpq/when-to-check-email-to-maximize-productivity/)
- [Is typing speed important as an engineer?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/JeBsvDeGQf01ritm98W0/is-typing-speed-important-and-what-speed-is-acceptable-for-a-dev-looking-to-work-at-faang/)
- [How do I estimate my sprint tasks better?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/3R6yRStSzDMmvLRCiMVV/how-do-i-estimate-my-sprint-tasks-better/)

Connect with Steve: 
- [Taro](https://www.jointaro.com/profile/aZJL3ucq9dQnscO09F4JDRkgPo72/)
- [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@ALifeEngineered)

[Masterclass] How To Get Promoted Faster In Tech

Related resources:
- ["How to drive my promotion discussion with my new manager?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/nbYTuVbu3dqGlPALRGbR/how-to-drive-my-promotion-discussion-with-my-new-manager/)
- ["What does it mean to not have enough scope to be promoted?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/bJuagPwOEEy5vkcXKkqh/what-does-it-mean-to-not-have-enough-scope-to-be-promoted/?playlistId=eZOEUatYEe7BBAZByuha)
- [Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LceOHzKxQ12LCtZvNu9OIXIE18UH_ldvW4gGZQewunA/edit?usp=sharing)

Your Onboarding Buddy

An onboarding buddy is someone who can help you adjust to cultural norms and direct your questions as a "catch-all." In addition to answering basic technical questions around workflow or code, the onboarding buddy is effectively lending their social capital to you to get you started. They are the safety net when you don't know who else to turn to. 

Rahul recommends that the onboarding buddy and manager be two different people. Your manager relationship contains a power dynamic in that you're interacting your boss, so you may not be fully vulnerable with them. The onboarding buddy is closer to a peer, which means you can get the help you need.

One of the most important roles for the onboarding buddy is to help you **figure out your support channels.**

Easily Level Up All Your Meetings By Taking Notes

What is the most straightforward way to level up a meeting?

True or false: Maintaining a good set of meeting notes can help you substantially with promotion.

Which of the following are benefits of maintaining meeting notes?

Meetings are extremely expensive, because they take time. To make sure that you're not wasting time with your meetings, you should always be doing the simple yet effective task of taking notes.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **For recurring meetings, maintain a running doc** - This applies especially to 1 on 1s and team meetings. *If you're not talking during a meeting, you should be writing*. These notes allow everyone in the meeting to quickly absorb prior context and hit the ground running in the current meeting.
- **Come into every meeting with a written agenda** - >24 hours before the meeting, write down an agenda into the meeting notes doc and let the other other in the meeting know. This will anchor the discussion to minimize its chances of going off-track and shows great initiative on your end. 

Related resources:
- [[Masterclass] How To Get Promoted Faster In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/W730BOdrfAIXAEVd8HUf/masterclass-how-to-get-promoted-faster-in-tech/) - The promotion talk referenced in the video
- ["How can I be more active in meetings and earn the respect of senior engineers?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/RtISfsqipLWBhZxvyl69/how-can-i-be-more-active-in-meetings-and-earn-the-respect-of-senior-engineers/)
- ["How to hold people accountable for Action Items/decisions from meetings?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/Jh8xg2KYi9utvUv9jUeO/how-to-hold-people-accountable-for-action-itemsdecisions-from-meetings/)

Effective Communication Guide [Part 3.1] - The Power Of Thanks

- Alex's story:
  - At Meta, there was a tool called "Thanks Bot" where you could publicly thank a coworker, and it would alert them, their manager, and your manager.
  - Given that this tool was more "heavy", people at Meta tended to use it for thanking fairly large efforts.
  - Alex had a great coworker back at Portal who would use it to thank people whenever they just spent 5-10 minutes helping him with something. This took people by surprise as they weren't expecting such a thanks for something relatively minor.
- Thank people for small and medium sized good deeds, whether they helped you or just did some really good work. Thanks is cheap - You always come out hugely "on top" in interactions where you give thanks: Giving thanks takes a few minutes tops and receiving helping often requires 10+ minutes of the other person's time.
- If someone really went out of their to way to do something great, reach out to their manager and thank them there as well. This really deepens your thanks, and it helps them receive proper credit, which could even be reflected in performance review.

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 7] - The #1 Behavioral Interview Question

In life, many things follow a power law where a specific group of things are far more important than all the others. This applies to behavioral interviews as well. This lesson teaches you:

- The most important behavioral interview question you absolutely must know and the many forms it can take on
- How to answer it properly, especially if the true meaning is hidden
- What a great project to talk about during a behavioral interview looks like

Go through the "Project Credit And Scope" section of the [promotion course here](https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/): <https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/its-not-just-about-impact/>

Grow From Mid-Level To Senior Engineer [Part 6] - The Goggles

Here's the harsh truth: The *vast* majority of mid-level engineers who are stuck at that level and unable to reach senior are holding themselves back (at least to some extent). This lesson teaches you:

- The classic unhealthy mindset that mid-level engineers have that keeps them from ever reaching senior
- How to correct the novice mid-level engineer mindset and evolve towards a senior engineer one by putting on **The Goggles**
- How to think about The Goggles after you are aware of them (which you will be after going through this lesson)
- The general way high-performing senior engineers (and beyond) view the world

Learn how to create scope with our playlist: [\[Taro Top 10\] How To Create Scope As An Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/EWIo3USNcsgXbCs5PS0h/)

Maximizing a Severance Package 2/9 - The Law

There are lots of laws around termination of employment, and they vary widely by country. Let's talk about what companies must (or must not) do when doing a Reduction in Force (RIF) or layoff.

- Connect with [**Ethan on LinkedIn**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/)
- Taro members get a discount to join [**Ethan's Level Up community**](https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/taro25)

Asking Great Questions [Part 4] - Make Questions Your Superpower

Many engineers see asking questions as a sign of weakness, which is why they don't do it. What these engineers don't realize is that if you do it properly, asking questions can actually become your *strength*. This lesson teaches you:

- The different levels of skill when it comes to asking questions
- The *massive* career benefits you can get when your question asking skills are truly top-notch, particularly around mentorship
- How expertly crafted questions build up your trust and reputation

To learn more about how to attract the best tech mentors: ["How does one attract a sponsor who is invested in their growth?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/pRX7I8QC5YPOEDNX5q87/how-does-one-attract-a-sponsor-who-is-invested-in-their-growth/)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 5] - Dynamic State vs. Prepared State

The overwhelming majority of software engineers went to college and grew up in a very academically-inclined environment. Bringing the mentality cultivated from that experience to the job search often unfortunately has bad consequences. This lesson teaches you:

- Why traditional learning methods don't translate well to software engineering
- The difference between *prepared state* (how you grew up learning) and *dynamic state* (how you should actually learn)
- A defining trait of the most successful interviewers, which most candidates don't have
- How to train yourself properly when it comes to your interview preparation and overall learning

How To Learn A New Codebase Fast

What is the best way to learn a codebase?

True or false: In software, experimenting and making changes is cheap, so a great way to learn is by trying a lot of things and seeing what happens, even if you do not fully understand the overall codebase yet.

Why is structured learning like tutorials and courses not effective for actually learning a codebase?

True or false: Before you jump into a codebase, you should ideally get a certificate in that tech stack before working with it.

Which of these is a good way to learn a codebase with your first code changes within it?

True or false: Breaking something locally is an effective way to learn a codebase.

- The best way to learn a new codebase is to learn by doing.
- Don't get paralyzed reading documentation or getting a certificate before jumping into a codebase.
- Start tinkering ASAP. It doesn't matter if you don't fully understand the codebase - Just do small changes like deleting a line or flipping a variable and then see what happens after you build the code.
- Alex's standard: Put out a commit/pull request for a new codebase within 2 days.
- You want to get code into review as soon as possible, because the feedback you get on your pull request is where the real learning happens. Don't worry about the quality; it's going to be bad in the beginning like with any newbie - The important thing is that you submit something out there into the world so your teammates can tell you how to get better.

Related resources:
- [How To Figure Out Which Parts Of A Codebase Matter](https://link.jointaro.com/PdpWBjAzU7NVTamf6)
- [Learning A New Codebase Fast As An Intern](https://link.jointaro.com/SMaLvqCVeoH9MmvV7)

DSA Crash Course [Part 67] - Fibonacci Approach

In this lesson, Alvin explains the fundamentals of dynamic programming by applying dynamic programming to fibonacci:

> Write a function *fib* that takes in a number argument, *n*, and returns the *n*\-th number of the Fibonacci sequence.
>
> The 0-th number of the sequence is 0.
>
> The 1-st number of the sequence is 1.
>
> To generate further numbers of the sequence, calculate the sum of previous two numbers.
>
> Solve this recursively.

```
fib(0); # -> 0
```

```
fib(1); # -> 1
```

```
fib(2); # -> 1
```

```
fib(3); # -> 2
```

```
fib(4); # -> 3
```

```
fib(5); # -> 5
```

```
fib(35); # -> 9227465
```

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/)

[Timeless Career Advice] Intro & Agenda

Over the last decade, I grew from an Individual Contributor Software Engineer to a Senior Director running multiple engineering teams at a Fortune 1 Company.\
\
My teams and I built Tech for a business unit with over $35 Billion in annual revenue.\
\
Before this, I was an early employee at a Startup, and I built eCommerce, personalization, and growth marketing tech that helped us go from 0 revenue to over a billion in sales in 1 year. Then that startup ([Jet.com](http://Jet.com)) got acquired for $3.3 Billion.

**This is the 1:1 with your Engineering Manager you should've had**.

Connect with Louie:

- SmallBets community: [**https://smallbets.com/?utm_source=taro**](https://smallbets.com/?utm_source=taro)
- Newsletter: [**https://newsletter.memesmotivations.com/**](https://newsletter.memesmotivations.com/)

DSA Crash Course [Part 19] - Recursion Warm Up Lecture

In this lecture, Alvin explains some basic recursive function examples.

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

Ace The ML System Design Interview [Part 2] - Why You Need A System

The machine learning system design interview can be daunting, but understanding common pitfalls can help you succeed. Here are the core points from this lesson:

- Align with the interviewer on the problem statement before diving into design to ensure the right problem is being solved
- Use a structured approach: start with big-picture system design, then address data considerations and modeling, only discussing deployment and operations if time allows
- Clearly articulate reasoning by explaining the "why" behind design choices and considering trade-offs between different techniques
- Take control of the interview by making assumptions, validating them with the interviewer, and simplifying the problem to fit within the given time
- Write down key assumptions and decisions to maintain clarity and provide a reference for both yourself and the interviewer

If you like what Ilya has to say, subscribe to his YouTube for more high-quality ML/AI career guidance: [MLEpath - YouTube](https://go.mlepath.com/taro-youtube-mlepath)

If you want hands-on support from Ilya to crack the FAANG ML interview, join his coaching program: [MLEpath - Coaching Program](https://go.mlepath.com/taro-march-25)

The Crucial First Step To Building Relationships That Everyone Misses

Many people in tech are bad at professional networking, and the reason is simple: They're being too selfish. If you want to build a professional network that is truly useful to you, you must strive to put yourself in the other person's shoes.

Here's the core points from the video:
- **Understand their incentives** - Everyone in the professional world is looking out for something: Nobody works purely for the sake of working. When you're working within a company environment, *this is usually what they're rewarded for in their performance review*. When you're asking for something, it's easy to get caught up in what *you're* looking for and how this other person can help *you*. The key to effective interpersonal communication is to flip that mentality and use your empathy to figure out *how you can help them instead*.
- **Alex's Instagram Misalignment Story**
  - Back in 2018, Instagram cofounders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger parted ways with Instagram and Facebook overall. This left a power vacuum with no clear "wing" of the company to drive the overall direction.
  - During this time, Alex was working on Instagram Ads. After the cofounders left, his team tried to ship a project to make the main action button on ads much bigger. Their A/B test showed that the new variant earned far more revenue.
  - The new CEO of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, shot the idea down, citing that it was too tacky. He then declared a design lockdown across all of Instagram stating that all new Instagram features needed to meet Instagram's user design standards.
  - This changed the incentives between designers and engineers at Instagram. Designers were now more focused on upholding the aesthetic integrity of Instagram and less so on shipping projects. On the other hand, engineers were still laser-focused on shipping.
  - *The engineers who best succeeded during this transitory period were those who worked together with the designers and championed their goals.* These engineers were willing to incorporate design polish and didn't immediately dismiss it as a threat to their timelines.

Related resources:
- [[Masterclass] How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/tyaPFMXPoz2pmzB7OVzt/how-to-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech-12172022/) - The full video where this clip was taken from
- [9-Part Effective Communication Master Series](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/hVdLQQzfslaYarLSCmmy/)
- ["How do I ask XFN partner for help to make progress in the project?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/OCUrjUM8axEIOJkSKhZp/how-do-i-ask-xfn-partner-for-help-to-make-progress-in-the-project/)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 30] - Talk To Your Recruiter

Too many software engineers see the tech recruiter as the enemy when they really shouldn't be. In reality, one of the core keys behind a successful interview loop is leveraging your recruiter optimally. This lesson teaches you:

- How to understand the world through the eyes of a recruiter, particularly when they have given you a chance and let you into their company's interview process
- Why software engineers usually fail to collaborate with their recruiter properly to maximize their chances of passing the interview
- The true cost of interviewing a software engineer (it's probably higher than you realize)
- How you can reach out optimally to recruiters to figure out what's going to be on your upcoming interview with an in-depth message example

DSA Crash Course [Part 13] - Pair Sum Walkthrough

In this lesson, Alvin walks through the python implementation for the *pair_sum* problem.

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/pair-sum?language=py>

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

Don't Be Naive When Networking - Understand That You'll Get Burned

One of the main ways to grow your tech career is by building relationships. However, a lot of software engineers struggle immensely with this, dismissing the entire craft as "playing politics". This video explains why that mentality is toxic and how you should set up your mindset instead.

Here are the core points:
- **Every company will have politics** - What separates the good companies from the bad ones is that the good ones have a moderate amount of politics while the bad ones have an overwhelming amount of politics. If you're going to any decently sized company, you will have to do understand how to interact with people and get them to like you. It is near impossible to get to senior levels without being able to do this.
- **Professional networking is just like "real life"** - There isn't a huge difference between building work relationships and making personal friends and dating. The core principles behind establishing relationships and earning trust are the same both inside and outside of work.
- **Not every relationship will work out** - Similar to personal relationships, you will often times invest into people who won't return the favor. *Don't let that turn you off from the idea of networking as a whole.* Growing as a software engineer is a marathon filled with ups and downs. Don't let a few toxic coworkers or poor synergy partnerships tear you down.

Related resources:
- [[Masterclass] How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/tyaPFMXPoz2pmzB7OVzt/how-to-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech-12172022/) - The full video where this clip was taken from
- [Effective Communication Guide - Building Relationships](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/488EjOLzU707WhdqMOK4/effective-communication-guide-part-3-building-relationships/)
- ["How do I achieve my goals for this half when XFN is not communicating effectively?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/Z1MwZ4GOA4XxxZd9ff5n/how-do-i-achieve-my-goals-for-this-half-when-xfn-is-not-communicating-effectively/)

Ask Questions Well

What makes a high-quality question?

- You get the help you need
- You build trust with the person/group that you're asking the question to

Question asking is a deep skill that requires you to add sufficient context (but not too much) so people can easily help you.

- Prefer to ask in public forums
- Realize that your question may help others beyond you
- Your questions are a valuable signal to the team 

When you are asking a question, please don't just say hello and wait for them to respond: <https://nohello.net/en/>

Tech Career Growth Videos

Our instructional videos provide software engineers with insights needed for career growth. Masterclasses go incredibly in-depth on a specific tech topic while case studies are real examples from established engineering leaders.